CVE-2023-38873 - Clickjacking Vulnerability in gugoan Economizzer: An In-Depth Analysis

The gugoan Economizzer, a popular open-source budget management tool, has been found to be vulnerable to Clickjacking in its version .9-beta1, released in April 2023. This vulnerability (CVE-2023-38873) stems from a commit (373088) and has the potential to cause serious damage to the users of this software. In this post, we will explore the details of this exploit, sharing relevant code snippets and links to original references, all while making sure our language remains simple and exclusive to a general audience.

Exploit Details

Clickjacking, as mentioned earlier, is a malicious technique where an attacker tricks a user into clicking on an unintended button or link by placing invisible layers on top of the legitimate webpage. The potential consequences of a successful Clickjacking attack range from compromising sensitive information to performing unwanted actions on behalf of the user.

In the case of CVE-2023-38873, the vulnerability can be exploited due to the lack of X-Frame-Options or Content-Security-Policy HTTP headers in the gugoan Economizzer's web application. This allows potential attackers to embed the vulnerable application within an iframe, facilitating the execution of their Clickjacking attack.

Here's a relevant code snippet from the vulnerable version .9-beta1 of gugoan Economizzer

// app/middleware/security.js (commit 373088)

module.exports = (req, res, next) => {
  // Missing implementation of X-Frame-Options or Content-Security-Policy headers
  //
  // e.g. res.setHeader('X-Frame-Options', 'SAMEORIGIN');
  // or res.setHeader('Content-Security-Policy', "frame-ancestors 'self'");
  //
  // This leads to the vulnerability of the application being embedded in an iframe.
};

As seen in the code snippet above, the implementation of X-Frame-Options or Content-Security-Policy headers is missing, which is highly crucial in protecting web applications against Clickjacking attacks.

Mitigation

To mitigate this vulnerability, it is necessary to include the X-Frame-Options HTTP header in the application's middleware, and set its value to 'SAMEORIGIN' or 'DENY', or provide a Content-Security-Policy (CSP) header with a "frame-ancestors" directive restricts which sources can be embedded with the iframe.

Links to Original References

- gugoan Economizzer v..9-beta1: https://github.com/gugoan/economizzer/releases/tag/v.9-beta1
- Commit 373088: https://github.com/gugoan/economizzer/commit/37308809f23b344c6a04a6bff854848083caf848
- CVE-2023-38873 Details: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-38873
- Clickjacking and X-Frame-Options: https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/Clickjacking
- Content Security Policy (CSP): https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CSP

Conclusion

This post has delved into the Clickjacking vulnerability of CVE-2023-38873 found in the gugoan Economizzer v..9-beta1, released in April 2023. We have covered the exploit details, shared relevant code snippets, and provided links to original references. It is essential to understand the severity of such vulnerabilities, and developers must take steps to ensure that their applications are adequately protected against such malicious attacks, safeguarding the privacy and security of their users.

Timeline

Published on: 09/28/2023 04:15:12 UTC
Last modified on: 10/02/2023 20:48:21 UTC